That Which Comes Between Two Mountains
by Mayushii
Summary: SAISEI #2. Because there just wasn't enough reason for Yusuke to offer his own life for Kurama's, and because Hiei was just too much of a psychopath. A rewrite of the Dark Artifacts case. Yusuke/Keiko/Botan, implied Hiei/Kurama.
1. That Which Comes Between Two Mountains 1

That Which Comes Between Two Mountains

by Mayushii

All copyright materials are property of their respective owners.

A/N: I posted this story a long time ago under a different title, but I deleted it because I wasn't completely satisfied with it. Since then it has been floating around on my computer(s), undergoing various edits and alterations over the years. I'm still not entirely sure it's done, but I just want to get it off my comp already. -_-; Please note that this is based on both the manga and the anime, so character designs and personalities may not precisely match either one. I also fudged around with the canon as I saw fit.

**Warning: This story contains one nonexplicit male/male pairing, Kurama+Hiei.** There is absolutely nothing physical going on between them in this installment of the series, so you are free to ignore the romantic intent and write it off as a "really close friendship" if you so choose. Just please be aware that relationships tend to progress to new levels the longer you stick with them, and it will be harder to ignore such developments in future installments.

* * *

Youko Kurama, Wielder of Plants

Yusuke had only been a Spirit Detective for a couple of days, but he was already starting to hate the job.

Could you really blame him, though? Since accepting his new position as defender of the human world, Yusuke had been subject to two of the worst beatings of his life. He had been pounded, stomped, tossed around like a rag doll, and nearly _eaten _damn it. Now, as he limped up a crowded sidewalk with the aid of a knobbly walking stick, he looked like the risen dead that he was.

And Yusuke was beginning to wonder if he would have been better off staying dead. At least then he wouldn't be in Koenma's debt, stuck doing this detective work as payment for his revival. _Detective work. Right. More like slave labor,_ he thought darkly. Frowning, Yusuke shoved one hand into his trouser pocket and pulled out the first of the three Spirit World treasures he'd been ordered to recover_. I can't believe I went through all that just to get this thing back…_

The artifact he held was as big as a softball, though Yusuke never could have mistaken it for one. In fact, it was hard to compare it to anything made by human hands. The Gakidama was green and glowing like radioactive waste, and it probably would have been a shapeless blob if not for the black metal framework that kept it in the form of a sphere. Yusuke had almost died trying to reclaim this soul-stealing orb, and Gouki was supposed to be the _weakest _of the three youkai thieves. Somewhere in Tokyo, there were two more treasures for him to track down. There was just no way he could complete the mission.

A group of teenagers standing outside a store gawked at Yusuke as he approached, and his annoyance suddenly reached boiling point.

"Stop staring at me, dammit! Don't you kids have a curfew or something?" Yusuke yelled. The startled teens whirled around and stared at the clothes in the store's display window. Yusuke glowered at them for a few more seconds before his anger simmered down, leaving him even weaker than he'd been before.

_Who am I kidding? I probably couldn't even beat them_ _up_. Yusuke replaced the Gakidama in his trousers for safekeeping and made up his mind to go home. There was no reason to push himself any farther tonight. He could start looking for Kurama and Hiei tomorrow…

A loud beeping sound pierced through the weary fog of Yusuke's consciousness. He glanced down at his wrist, checking the glowing red face of the Youkai Compass. There was a youkai less than a hundred meters away. Yusuke stared in horror as the reading steadily began to decrease.

It was coming closer.

Was the youkai looking for him? Maybe it wouldn't attack in the middle of a crowded street, but Yusuke was in no shape to tangle with it. He could barely walk straight, much less run, and he doubted he could secure a hiding place in his condition.

When the Youkai Compass read two meters, the crowd seemed to part. Yusuke narrowed his eyes at the person who stood before him.

_There… It's Kurama._

A shiver ran down Yusuke's spine when he met the youkai's eyes. They were sharp and intensely green, and Yusuke could see something very old and otherworldly lurking behind them. Those eyes looked even odder coupled with an androgynous human face. Now that Yusuke thought about it, the whole picture was mostly gender neutral. Kurama's school uniform fit his body strangely, offering no noticeable hints of masculine lines or womanly curves, and his long, flowing, wine-red hair looked more feminine than anything. If Yusuke didn't know Kurama was a guy, his first guess would have been _pretty girl in serious need of a Wonderbra. _(Tasteless? Ha! Yusuke didn't know the meaning of the word.)

Yusuke tensed and waited for an attack. A fine brow arched over one of Kurama's eyes.

"Good evening, Detective. I see you've been making friends with Gouki," Kurama observed. Yusuke held back a glare as the youkai's eyes surveyed his bruised face, his ragged clothes, and his walking stick. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Yusuke answered tersely. Kurama considered him for another moment before giving a short nod, as if he approved of what he saw.

"You beat him. If you hadn't, you would be dead." Kurama tipped his head questioningly. "Isn't that right?"

"Yeah, I beat him." Yusuke felt the cold, shaking sense of dread seeping out of his body, replaced instead with confusion and curiosity. Kurama continued to look at him with a sort of mild interest, as if he expected Yusuke to carry on a conversation with him. Did youkai always make small talk with people they intended to kill? Yusuke furrowed his brow and said, "Look, if you're going to kill me, you should probably be doing that right now instead of asking me about my day."

Kurama looked mildly amused. "Ah, but I'm not going to kill you."

"What do you want, then? You didn't run into me by accident," Yusuke pointed out.

"Right again. I did seek you out." Kurama tipped his head languidly. A few strands of hair slipped from behind his ear, and Yusuke couldn't stop himself from tracking the movement. Damn, he was paranoid. It was just hair. It wasn't like Kurama had drawn a weapon… "I wanted to ask a favor."

Yusuke jerked his head up and snapped back to the youkai's eyes.

"And what sort of favor would that be?" he asked.

"Just time. Three days, to be precise. After that, I will return the Ankokukyo."

* * *

Yusuke shut his eyes as Botan held her hand over his face, bathing him in what looked and felt like concentrated sunlight. Healing energy poured into scrapes and bruises, filling the wounds before fading and leaving his skin its normal, healthy color. When Botan moved her hand away from his face and started work on his bare chest instead, Yusuke reopened his eyes.

"I'm just saying he doesn't seem that bad," Yusuke said for the fifth time.

"Of course he doesn't! He probably has you under some kind of youkai spell," Botan said with a dismissive tone in her voice. The light around her hand pulsed brighter when she held it over a large bruise on her patient's shoulder. Yusuke grunted as the energy went from warm to burning, and she quickly reined herself in. "As for this favor he's asking, it has to be a trick. I mean, think about this. You know that the full moon is in three days, don't you?"

"Yeah. So what?" Yusuke asked, his brow creasing.

Botan stood up and tossed her light blue ponytail in a show of annoyance.

"Yusuke, you sure can be dense sometimes," she said reprovingly. "The night of the full moon is when the powers of the Ankokukyo reach their peak. When that happens, the mirror reflects the strongest desire of anyone who looks into it. It will then grant that desire as long as the user offers something in return. I don't know what the price is, but it's obvious that Kurama wants to use the next three days to find out."

"Why did he come to me, then?" Yusuke asked dubiously. "It's not like I could have stopped him. He could have killed me at any time, so why didn't he?"

Botan put her hands on her hips. "I don't know, but he might have thought you were worth more to him alive—"

"Just listen. When I was talking with Kurama, I kept getting this weird vibe. It felt…" Yusuke stared at the ceiling, trying to remember exactly what he had sensed when Kurama first appeared to him. He was sure the youkai was dangerous, but Kurama had not been trying to intimidate him. If anything, he had been…sympathetic. Kind, even. "He has this aura around him, you know?"

"No, I don't know," Botan said tartly.

"I just—I kept feeling like he was—" Yusuke fumbled for words, not entirely sure what he wanted to say. He finally sighed and said, "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I want to give him the three days."

"You're being stupid!" Botan huffed. "His partner nearly killed you and now you're giving _him _a chance to—"

"They aren't partners anymore. When I found them in the forest yesterday, they were having some kind of argument. I don't know why, but Kurama told the other two he was leaving." Yusuke tried to recall how Kurama had looked at him. There had been no evil in his eyes… "He looks _sad_, Botan. Maybe he's having second thoughts."

Botan folded her arms over her chest, looking deeply perturbed. She was saved the trouble of replying when Yusuke's mother suddenly barged into the room.

"Yusuke! I've made us some dinner!" Atsuko announced. She offered a friendly smile to Botan, not seeing the aggravated look on her son's face. "Will you be eating with us, Botan? We have plenty of food!"

"Oh yes, that sounds great!" Botan laughed, effortlessly falling into her cheery human world persona.

Yusuke quickly sat up and swiveled around to glare at his mother.

"Can't you knock, Mom? We're having a serious discussion here!" he complained.

"Hey! What kind of conversation can't be held around your own mother?" Atsuko snarled, grabbing her son by his upper arm and hauling him off the bed. "What are you doing in here anyway, lying in bed half-naked with a girl in the room? Don't you have any sense of modesty?"

"What?" Yusuke blinked, looked down at his bare chest, and suddenly realized how the whole situation must look. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief._ At least she didn't see Botan using her healing powers. Now that would have been hard to explain…_

* * *

A few days later, Yusuke wandered through the courtyard of Sarayashiki High. Sulking, he kicked a stone out of his path and ignored the way his classmates scattered when they saw him coming. His reputation as the most dangerous delinquent in school was respected by everyone, but it had its downsides. Keiko and Kuwabara were the only ones brave enough to talk to him. There was some wide-eyed little nerd following him around today, though…

The boy timidly cleared his throat. "Urameshi?"

"This better be good, or your face is meeting pavement," Yusuke said nonchalantly as he turned around. The kid let out a terrified squeak.

"Th-there's somebody at the front gate who wants to see you!"

"What…?" Yusuke blinked in confusion.

A few minutes later, when Yusuke reached the front gates, he found his visitor standing in the shadow of a naked oak tree. Kurama had his hands buried in the pockets of his school uniform, and the rays of sunlight that passed through the tree's branches shone brightly on his silken hair and creamy skin. Several girls in the courtyard were whispering behind their hands to each other, looking at Kurama with obvious interest.

"Kurama!" Yusuke yelped in surprise.

"Good afternoon," Kurama greeted, dipping his head in an informal bow. He offered a sly smile as Yusuke walked toward him, not missing the looks of outrage and disappointment on the schoolgirls' faces. "I don't suppose you would mind getting out of class early? I'd like to talk with you for a while."

Yusuke smirked. Getting him out of school? That was definitely a few points in the guy's favor.

* * *

Needless to say, Yusuke was surprised when Kurama brought him to the Kamiya Kouen. It was a botanical park owned by a nearby college, and Yusuke had never been past the front gate, barred by the fee. Kurama was happy to pay for both of them, though. Yusuke couldn't help feeling embarrassed when the youkai handed his money over to the man in the tollbooth.

"Um, you don't have to pay for me," he mumbled, watching as the man in the booth gave Kurama two tickets.

"It's only fair, since I'm the one who asked you to come," Kurama reassured him. He handed one ticket over to Yusuke and tucked the other into his own pocket. "Don't worry, the fee is worth it."

They passed through the large doors, and Yusuke felt his breath catch in his throat. He wasn't exactly a nature freak, but…

_Wow. Is this what a real park looks like?_ It was hard to believe that Sarayashiki's public park was supposed to compare. This place had so many trees and shrubs and flowerbeds that Yusuke was sure it would feel more like a garden come spring. There was a green pond with a bridge arching across it, benches for resting, and a concrete walkway that diverged into footpaths through the grass. Trees stretched their bare branches over the walkway, but Yusuke couldn't even try to identify them, especially since they had no leaves.

As they started down the walkway, Yusuke glanced at Kurama. The youkai had clasped his hands behind his back, and his expression was almost regretful as he looked up at the barren trees.

"It's a pity we couldn't have come here in the spring. These trees are gorgeous in full bloom," Kurama said. Yusuke blinked and turned his eyes toward the trees hanging over the path. He looked back to Kurama and watched as the youkai lost himself in thought. "This world has so many beautiful, wonderful plants. I wish I could have seen them all…" Kurama's eyes flicked over to his puzzled companion. He tipped his head down and shook his head with a rueful smile. "Sorry. Just a little self-reflection."

Yusuke stopped to stare at the youkai. Kurama paused and looked over his shoulder at Yusuke.

"I hope I'm not boring you…?" Kurama asked uncertainly.

"Uh, no," Yusuke said hastily. _Not boring, more like confusing. You don't act like a youkai at all… _"Can I ask you something? How did you get mixed up in all this?"

"You wouldn't want to hear it," the youkai sighed.

"Sure I would," Yusuke insisted. Kurama looked a bit pleased at this.

"Then you should sit down." He motioned to the playground. "It's a long story."

A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting on the flat metal seats of the swing set. They were a little uncomfortable, since the swings were made to carry toddlers instead of teenagers, but they didn't mind. Kurama leaned forward so his hair flowed over his shoulders.

"To be honest, I knew Hiei long before the three treasures came into the picture," Kurama began. "I met him a year ago, when we became entangled with a youkai called Yatsude—nicknamed the Butcher. This youkai was a monster even by our standards. Most of us consider it distasteful to eat humans—"

"What?" Yusuke blurted out. Kurama arched an eyebrow.

"Is it really so surprising? The Spirit World has laws against youkai eating humans, but many of us wouldn't do it even if we were allowed. Food that can talk back to you just doesn't appeal to most of us." Yusuke stared in shock at this news (_why didn't Botan mention that?_), and Kurama shook his head with a bemused look. "Anyway, Yatsude wasn't like 'most of us.' He kidnapped humans and youkai alike, tore them apart and ate them while they were still alive. In this way he absorbed their spirit energy and became stronger."

"Sounds like a nice guy," Yusuke said. _Sounds like Gouki._ Kurama nodded.

"I learned about Yatsude after a few of my classmates went missing. He was particularly fond of teenage girls, you see," Kurama explained. "When I found out that Yatsude was in town, I knew I had to do something. I couldn't just let a man-eating youkai claim my home as his hunting ground. But things didn't go according to plan…"

* * *

_An enormous clawed foot stomped down on the ground, crushing the flower of a white rose under its weight._

"_Is that all you can do? I expected more. Oh well, I guess it's time to end this…"_

_Kurama attempted to push himself up from where he lay on the dirt- and blood-covered floor. He moaned, a thin line of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and gasped wetly when a large hand tugged him up by his hair. Fear flooded him as he stared into a large, grinning mouth filled with wicked-looking fangs._

"_Always liked having my food come to me," Yatsude leered._

_Not wanting to see his own death, Kurama closed his eyes. Then there was a crack of displaced air and something warm and wet splashed over his face. He opened his eyes warily, watching as the top half of Yatsude's head fell away. Standing behind the decapitated monster was a small, spiky-haired youkai with a bloody katana in his hand. He was dressed in a long black coat and a white scarf stained dark red on one side. Judging from the sweat leaking down his face and the way he panted, the blood on his scarf was probably his own._

"_H-ha… Looks like the Butcher's been butchered." The little youkai swayed and barely managed to stay on his feet. He blinked, trying to focus his fading vision, and then frowned in confusion when he saw the blood-spattered face of Yatsude's attempted victim. "And just who the hell are you?"_

* * *

"Even if it was an accident, Hiei did save me. Not only did he keep me from being eaten, he put an end to Yatsude's murders. I was in his debt." Kurama smiled bleakly. "So I took him home, treated his wounds and let him stay until he'd recovered his strength. That's how Hiei and I became partners. I didn't meet Gouki until Hiei found him a few months ago, and…well…" Kurama wrinkled his nose. "We didn't like the arrangement, but we needed his help. Gouki was the only youkai we could find that had actually been inside the Gates of Judgment—imprisoned there for previous crimes. In retrospect, he was more trouble than he was worth… And with the Gakidama exerting influence over him he was even worse."

"What influence?" Yusuke interrupted.

"Its will. The strain the treasures put on the mind and spirit," Kurama answered. He looked a bit perplexed, as if he had expected Yusuke to know this. "Holding more than one of the treasures at a time has been known to break the psyche altogether. Surely your contacts in the Spirit World warned you about this?"

Yusuke opened his mouth, not sure what he was going to say. Perhaps he would tell Kurama that Botan had never mentioned anything about the treasures having negative effects on the user, or maybe he would ask why they would want the treasures in the first place if they were so dangerous.

"Kyoko! It's time to go home!"

Kurama turned to watch as a little pigtailed girl ran across the grass in front of them. Realizing that the conversation wasn't going anywhere, Yusuke followed the youkai's gaze and observed as the little girl ran up to her father and pouted at him.

"Daddy, I can't find any flowers for Mommy!"

"Kyo, it's January. Flowers don't usually grow around this time." The man dropped down to his knees so he could look his daughter in the face. "We can buy her a nice bouquet at the florist's."

"But I wanna pick them myself," the girl sniffed, looking close to tears. "Can't I look a little longer?"

The man softened at the sight of his unhappy daughter and checked his watch.

"Ten minutes, Kyoko. Then we need to leave, or we'll be late to the party."

Yusuke and Kurama watched in silence as Kyoko toddled off toward the wooded area of the park. The girl's father looked at his watch again and shook his head, knowing perfectly well that she wouldn't find the kind of flowers she wanted.

Kurama hummed thoughtfully, slipping onto his feet and walking away from the swing sets. Yusuke observed warily as the youkai crouched down in the grass and pressed one hand to the earth. An aura suddenly blossomed around Kurama's hand—_really _blossomed. Yusuke was shocked by how different Kurama's energy was from his own or Botan's spirit energy. It appeared as deep pink light, but particles were constantly escaping, fluttering around like tiny petals on the wind only to be drawn back in before they could be lost. Yusuke was so intrigued by this flowering energy that it took a moment to register when the light spread from Kurama's hand and shot in the direction of the trees.

A cry sounded somewhere in the woods. Yusuke jumped off his swing and was about to pounce on Kurama's kneeling form when happy laughter followed the cry. Confused, Yusuke looked toward the woods and watched in astonishment as Kyoko marched purposefully out from the trees. In her tiny arms was a bundle of wild lilies, their dewy petals glistening in the sunshine.

Kyoko's father was just as startled by the girl's discovery as Yusuke, but he hid it much better.

"Those flowers are very pretty, Kyoko. Where did you find them?"

"They were over there, near that tree. There was a whole bunch of them!"

"Funny, I didn't think lilies grew this time of year," the father said to himself. He shrugged and took his daughter's hand. "Well, I'm sure your mother will love them."

"I hope so!" Kyoko giggled.

As the father and his child walked down the path, Yusuke turned his bewildered eyes on Kurama. The youkai had risen to full height and now stood with his arms folded delicately over his thin chest. Kurama tucked some hair behind his ear and looked at the ground with a lackluster smile.

"I wouldn't have hurt her, Detective. I just thought you might like to see my power. I use my energy to manipulate plants." Kurama glanced over his shoulder at Yusuke. "I know it may not sound very useful, but you would be surprised at how versatile such a talent is. So many poisonous, dangerous plants exist in the three worlds…yet they can be used to heal and bring happiness, too. I doubt I would have survived as long as I did if I didn't have this kind of power."

Kurama glanced toward the sky, eyes narrowing.

"It will be night soon. Time is running out," he murmured to himself. He bit his lip, looking slightly worried. "There… There is one more thing I want to show you before I return the Ankokukyo. Is that all right with you?"

Yusuke hesitated for a moment, and then he nodded mutely. If nothing else, he was getting some insight into the youkai…


	2. That Which Comes Between Two Mountains 2

That Which Comes Between Two Mountains

by Mayushii

All copyright materials are property of their respective owners.

A/N: Warning, lots and lots and _**lots **_of exposition from Kurama and some mildly gruesome imagery this chapter. Sorry guys. Thanks for the reviews, everyone! They made me really happy. I'm sorry this chapter is late, but I was working on schoolwork.

-I'm sure I mentioned this, but this does _not_ strictly follow the canon. As you may have noticed, the first encounter with Hiei and Yatsude was changed. In this chapter I have fudged around with Kurama's backstory a bit. I'd rather warn you in advance.

* * *

Just One Wish…

As Kurama led him across the parking lot of Nakayama General, Yusuke wondered if the youkai got a kick out of confusing people.

The Spirit Detective stared up at the hospital, a modern-looking building with leafless trees flanking its double doors. Once they entered he glanced around as if expecting there to be something wrong. The lobby was a large bright room with a welcome desk, lots of windows, and potted trees interspersed with benches. Yusuke supposed it was meant to evoke a park so that patients would forget they were in a hospital, but the green, healthy trees just seemed unnatural since everything outside was dead. Other than that, there was nothing strange about the place.

A receptionist behind the desk glanced up when Yusuke and Kurama approached.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Good afternoon," Kurama said, bowing politely. "We are here to see Shiori Minamino, please."

"Okay." The receptionist turned to face the computer, and her fingers punched at the keys on the board. New windows popped up all over the screen, and she studied one before looking up at the boys again. "Ms. Minamino should be in Room 501. Would you like an escort, or can you find it yourself?"

"Thank you. We can manage on our own." Kurama turned to his companion. "Let's go, Mr. Urameshi."

Yusuke stared for a moment, agog at the formal use of his name. Then he realized that Kurama had never called him anything other than "Detective" before. He knew that Kurama referring to him as a Spirit Detective wouldn't be appropriate now, but his last name didn't sound right either—it was too polite.

"It's Yusuke," he said decisively. "Call me Yusuke."

Kurama blinked.

"Yusuke?" he repeated slowly. There was question in his voice, hesitation, as if he wasn't sure he should be saying this. Despite that note of uncertainty, the name sounded good coming from him. Yusuke grinned a little, and Kurama quietly accepted this. "Let's go then, Yusuke."

Kurama led him out of the lobby and down a hall. At the end of the hall they stepped into an elevator, followed by a doctor, two nurses, and an elderly man with a bouquet of drooping carnations. The elevator climbed higher and higher, stopping twice as passengers came and went (and when the old man left, Yusuke was _sure _the carnations looked fresher and brighter than they had before). A few minutes later, the human and the youkai stepped out onto the fifth floor.

"So, who is Shiori Minamino?" Yusuke asked.

"She's a patient here. She has lung cancer," Kurama answered. He didn't offer any further information.

Soon they came to a door. There was a white board with a name and room number scrawled across it. Kurama reached for the doorknob, but he paused and glanced back at Yusuke.

"Don't say anything you wouldn't say to a normal human, understood?" he said firmly.

There was an odd look in Kurama's eyes…grim, reluctant, and at the same time there was a sort of glint that warned of unpleasant consequences should Yusuke disobey. Yusuke blinked and nodded his understanding. The expression on the youkai's face didn't change one bit. Nevertheless, Kurama pushed the door open a bit and craned his head to look inside.

"Mother?" he called. Yusuke jolted.

"Oh, Shuichi!" a woman's frail but pleased voice called back. "Come in!"

Kurama glanced at Yusuke again and pushed the door open wide. The room beyond was a wash of yellow-orange as the late afternoon sun shone through the curtains over the window. In the bed, beneath a layer of thin sheets, lay a middle-aged woman wearing a pink hospital gown.

Yusuke's first thought was that she must have been beautiful when she was young—not cute and sweet like Keiko, but elegant and graceful like Kurama. In fact, as Yusuke studied the woman he realized that the air of refinement wasn't the only thing she had in common with Kurama. They had the same heart-shaped face, the same nose and mouth. Shiori's face was fuller and her features lengthened by age, but it was clear they were related. It was only when Yusuke got a look at her eyes that he saw where they were different. The woman's eyes were smaller, brown instead of green, and soft with tenderness rather than sharp and alert. Yusuke couldn't help being jarred by the difference in such a crucial feature.

Yusuke hung back as Kurama approached the bed.

"Shuichi," Shiori murmured, a loving smile appearing on her face as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "I wasn't expecting you back today. And who is that you've got with you? It's been such a long time since you've brought a friend."

"Easy now, Mother. You don't have to get up." Kurama sat down on the bed and put on a smile, but he couldn't fully hide his tension as he gestured toward Yusuke. "This is Yusuke Urameshi from Sarayashiki High."

Shiori smiled warmly at Yusuke. "I'm so pleased to meet you, Yusuke."

Yusuke's eyes darted to Kurama to ask for instructions. Green eyes stared back at him, dark and narrow beneath downturned brows, and his posture was broad, like an animal trying to shield a packmate from danger. _He's protecting her,_ Yusuke realized with shock. This wasn't some kind of act. Kurama actually cared about this woman. Allowing a stranger to see Shiori must have been a huge risk for him, and now he was prepared to defend himself and his mother should Yusuke take advantage of the situation. But why? Why reveal such a weakness at all? Yusuke stared at Kurama, trying to understand the youkai's intentions. Behind his defensiveness, there was a sense of pleading. Kurama did not want to fight.

_That's good enough for me._

Firming his resolve, Yusuke turned his eyes back to Shiori. He inclined his head in a small bow the way Kurama so often did.

"Hi, ma'am. It's an honor to meet you."

When Yusuke straightened up again, he saw the delight on Shiori's face. Kurama breathed a sigh of relief, the tension in his body melting away, and when his mother turned to him confusedly he smiled and shook his head. "Just happy that you two are off to a good start," he said.

* * *

Dark pink and purple clouds drifted across a pale blue sky, and the sun, bright orange and beautiful, was dipping behind a gold-tinted horizon. From the roof of the hospital, the Spirit Detective and the youkai had a breathtaking view of the sunset. Unfortunately, neither was all too interested in the scenery.

Yusuke shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I thought your name was Kurama," he said flatly.

"It is. Most youkai know me by that name. But among humans, my name is Shuichi Minamino." The ghost of a smile appeared on Kurama's face. "Some great cosmic joke, I think, for a youkai like myself to be reborn in a human body. I can't imagine what I did to deserve it…" Yusuke frowned and narrowed his eyes, taking this as an insult to his own species. His indignation made Kurama chuckle softly. "I'm sorry. I'm not making sense, am I? I suppose that's what happens when you start at the end of a story instead of the beginning."

Yusuke tipped his head inquiringly. Kurama closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and composing himself.

* * *

"_I suppose I must have started out as a common fox. I don't remember it at all._

_What I do remember is the day I gained sentience—the day I became a youkai."_

_Rain fell down on the clearing, softly pattering the earth and dead grass. The tiny droplets landing on his skin slowly roused the fox that had stopped in the clearing for a nap. Green eyes opened, hazy and disoriented. The fox blinked, twitching his nose—it didn't feel the same as it had when he'd fallen asleep. He wondered why it felt strange…then he wondered how he wondered. Confused and slightly frightened by this new sense of awareness, he brought an oddly heavy paw to his face to feel his snout. Where was his snout? And…what was wrong with his paw?_

_He stared, uncomprehending, at the thing that was supposed to be his paw. Pale, even glowing, with five freakishly long digits, one of which stood at a different angle from the others. He attempted to stretch his muscles, just to be sure, and the digits spread out according to his will. He raised his other forepaw and stared at them for a while, flexing and retracting them in wonder. His eyes trailed down from paw to leg to torso, all practically devoid of fur save for a fine coat of short silver strands._

"_That day… It was like being born, but being fully grown and fully sentient._

_As I understand it, I must have spent a hundred years before that as a fox…_

_Unable to attain a human level of consciousness, unaware of being aware."_

_The fox decided it was best to go back to sleep and wait for things to go back to normal. He yawned and stretched out his body, scrunching his eyes shut. When he opened them again a moment later, he found the clearing coming to life, the grass green and wildflowers opening up all around him. He turned fully onto his back, languidly staring up at the gray sky, feeling the water gently beating down on his face._

"_For a while I went about life as I always had… But it grew monotonous._

_Soon I took up thievery. It distracted me nicely and earned me my name:_

_The Youkai Kitsune of Mount Kurama…or just Youko Kurama for short."_

_Inside a little tavern, a group of youkai sat around a table, drinking and sharing tales by lamplight._

"_You'll want to be careful around these parts, lads! They say that Youko Kurama has taken up haunting the area!" said an elderly youkai, brandishing a shiny red apple at his companions. The other youkai laughed and shook their heads, and the old one frowned. "It's true! I've seen him with my own eyes!"_

"_Sure you did, Old Man," his companions said obligingly._

"_Don't patronize me, you little brats. He could steal the pants off you if he wanted," the old youkai muttered sourly. He raised the apple to his mouth and took a bite—only to break his teeth on a rock._

_While the youkai at the table laughed at the foolish old man, the hooded figure that had just passed their table continued calmly toward the door. It was only when he stood at the open door that he lowered his hood. The light from inside the tavern cast the figure's fox-eared and -tailed shadow on the ground outside. With a vaguely absentminded look, Youko Kurama glanced over his shoulder at the old demon and took a bite from his newly acquired apple, not bothering to wipe the juice from his chin._

"_As my awareness grew, I came to realize that my life had no purpose._

_I tried to fill the void in my psyche with new thrills, new adventures._

_But each time I grew more numb and needed even greater stimulation._

_The things I resorted to…would give even youkai nightmares."_

_Kurama, closed-eyed, murmured incantations under his breath as he ran his hands down the length of a long seal-scroll. The calligraphy was fading away, and soon the scroll was as blank as if no protective spell had been written on it in the first place. Opening his eyes, Kurama smirked and tore the useless paper from the door. He pushed the door open and beheld the room beyond, which was filled to the brim with shining treasure._

_His accomplices lingered at the door, but Kurama strode into the vault as if he owned it. He went to a pile of treasure, running his hand over it, coming up with a handful of gleaming gold coins and letting them fall through his fingers. Smirk broadening into a fanged smile, he snapped his fingers. The other members of his gang hurried into the vault and began to shove handfuls of treasure into their rucksacks. They had been useless during the break-in, but at least they could lug around the gold. It would have been a pain to carry on his own._

_The fox youkai ran one hand through his long silver hair. Many of his accomplices, women and men alike, looked away from the gold to admire him instead. Making note of the ones he would take to bed later, Kurama left the room with his tail swishing._

_Muffled screams above his head made Kurama's ears twitch. Glancing up, his eyes glittered as he saw the guards. They struggled against the poisoned vines that suspended them high above the ground, screaming through their gags, their skin covered with dark red hives. Some had already died from the poison; others would suffer for days yet. The thought of their cruel fate gave Kurama a brief rush of satisfaction…and then that sickening, ice-cold hollowness returned. Seething with rage, he took control of the vines and used them to strangle the life out of the guards._

"_I committed every sin imaginable, but in the end…_

_Nothing could make my existence more bearable._

_So I took the only way out."_

* * *

"And then I was reborn as Shuichi Minamino." Kurama offered Yusuke a wry smile. "I have no idea how it happened. I have never heard of a youkai being reincarnated as a human… Possession, certainly, but never rebirth. In theory such a permanent fusion of youkai and human should be impossible. But if some god interceded, I suppose the word 'impossible' would hold no meaning." There was an odd look on Kurama's face now, a sort of bemused curiosity. "I wonder which of the gods did this to me, then? And what did they have in mind when they did it? Was it a joke? An experiment? What could they have been thinking, placing me in this world…?"

"I don't see why you're complaining," Yusuke frowned. "If you don't like the human world, you could have just gone back to Makai."

Kurama paused.

"Go _back?_" he said slowly.

The youkai turned to look at Yusuke. When those eyes landed on him, smiling and tearful at once, Yusuke realized that he had been missing the point. All this time he had thought Kurama was telling him how out of place he felt as a human. But in truth, it was quite the opposite…

"I _love_ this world, Yusuke," Kurama whispered, his voice filled with a sort of desperate adoration. "I don't ever want to leave this place. You don't know what Makai is like. If I returned there I could never…_never_, feel good again. I could never feel happy and wanted and…and loved…" Kurama held a hand over his heart as if he were making a solemn vow. "I was _lucky_ to be reborn as Shiori's son. To be born in this beautiful world, to experience something as simple and pure as a mother's love… To feel, because of that love, that _I_ am pure…" Kurama looked toward the sky, seeming to marvel at the fade of orange into deepening blue. "I don't know what I did to deserve this fate. To be given such happiness, after all the horrible things I did. But it doesn't matter. Now that I have it, I can't let it be taken away. Not like this—languishing, suffocating, inside this prison of a hospital…"

Suddenly, Yusuke made the connection.

"You want to use the Ankokukyo to cure your mom?" Yusuke asked. Kurama nodded.

"Yes, I do. I can honestly say that keeping her happy and healthy is the only good thing I have ever done in either of my lives. If I let her die… I couldn't live with myself." Kurama never took his eyes off the light fading in the west. "I needed help to get the Ankokukyo, so I convinced Hiei that stealing the three treasures would be a test of his skills. I knew he couldn't resist the challenge."

"So you're the one who started all this."

Kurama hesitated, and then he slowly turned to look at the Spirit Detective.

"It's… Yusuke, you have to understand. I never meant to use the treasures to do harm. Curing Shiori is the only thing I wanted. And Hiei, he had no plans for the treasures at all. He just wanted to prove he could steal them. It wasn't until he touched the Kouma-no-Ken that its curse consumed him." Kurama's eyes glistened slightly. "I never told him what that sword would do to him. I didn't care. At the time, I thought that abandoning one fool of a youkai to madness was a small price to pay for saving Shiori. I had done far worse, after all…"

Yusuke saw the sadness and regret in Kurama's eyes and took a step toward him.

"Kurama?" Yusuke asked, voice quiet with concern. "Hey. You okay?"

The youkai's lips curved into a small smile.

"Please don't worry about me. If any youkai deserves your concern, it is Hiei," he said softly. "You have already shown me more kindness than I deserve, but I have one more favor to ask. I want you to do your best to save him. Gouki got what was coming to him, but Hiei… There is so much potential for good in him, and it's been subdued by the Kouma-no-Ken's power. If you defeat him and separate him from the sword for a while, its influence will weaken. You can repair the damage I've done."

Yusuke frowned. "But why me? Why can't you—?"

"Shuichi!" Yusuke and Kurama turned, startled, as a nurse flung the door to the roof open wide. She looked at Kurama helplessly. "Come quickly! It's your mother…!"

* * *

The beeping of the heart monitor was growing more and more erratic as doctors and nurses hovered around Shiori, fussing with fluid packets and tubes. One of the doctors frowned down at the woman in the bed. Her mouth and nose were covered with a plastic respirator mask that fogged up every time she breathed. She wasn't the youngest patient he'd treated for lung cancer, but forty was still much too young…

A nurse ran to find some more packets, and Yusuke and Kurama moved out of her way, allowing her to pass before entering the room themselves. The doctor glanced at Kurama.

"Shuichi, your mother's experiencing severe respiratory distress. You see that blue mottling on her fingernails, there? That means she isn't getting enough oxygen." The doctor turned back to Shiori, unable to meet the boy's dark, fearful eyes. "She's dying, Shuichi."

"H-how long until…?" Kurama bit his lip, unable to finish the question.

"Tonight, maybe tomorrow morning," the doctor replied grimly. "We'll do what we can to make her comfortable, but if you want to say goodbye…" Kurama turned around, walking briskly toward the door. Yusuke hurried after him, ignoring the doctor's apologies.

* * *

Despite the pleasant weather, the atmosphere of the night had become much more tense. Kurama reached into an inner pocket of his jacket, drawing the stolen treasure into plain view. The Ankokukyo was a round mirror no larger than his hand, and a thin braid of white silk rope trailed from it with two dark red beads strung along the tail. Eight tiny jade spheres were set in the brown clay framework, gleaming in the pale light from the rising moon.

"You see now why I have to do this?" Kurama whispered. He smiled, but his eyes clearly revealed how much pain he was in. "Yusuke, I can't let her die that way. I would never have learned what I know now if I hadn't been her son. I would have continued my life feeling empty, continued to hurt people to ease my own suffering… I would have never found a real purpose for my life."

He kneeled on the ground, set the Ankokukyo on the concrete surface, and peered at it quietly for a moment. The moonlight seemed to spread over it, creeping across the dark face of the mirror until the entire surface shone white.

"Kurama?" Yusuke said hesitantly. "I… I don't know if you know this, but you have to dish something out to the Ankokukyo to make it work."

For some reason this made Kurama laugh softly.

"Yes, I was aware. I can't help thinking it's appropriate…" Kurama raised his eyes to Yusuke. They were so sad, but so very peaceful… Nothing like the terrible youkai Kurama had described. "It's nothing of real consequence. I never deserved it anyway."

"What do you mean?" Yusuke asked, not understanding.

"Life, Yusuke." Kurama turned his eyes back to the mirror. "The Ankokukyo will take my life."

* * *

Botan quirked an eyebrow at Koenma.

"Life? What do you mean, life?"

"It's just as it sounds," Koenma shrugged. "The person who uses the Ankokukyo loses their life. Didn't you know that each of the three treasures has a psychological effect on its user? The Ankokukyo takes away the user's good judgment…or rather, skews it so that he loses all hope and feels he _must _use the mirror." The god clasped his hands over his desk, looking solemn. "It compels its user—its victim, to offer his life energy in exchange for a wish. That is what makes the Ankokukyo truly dangerous."

"That's—Koenma—" Botan fumbled for words, then made a mad dash for the office door. "Don't you think _Yusuke _needs to know that?"

* * *

Yusuke's eyes went wide as Kurama returned his attention to the mirror. He had said it so calmly, like it was nothing. Maybe it _was _nothing to Kurama.

"But… But that's crazy!" Yusuke's voice rose with panic. "Why would anyone give up their life for a wish?"

"It's just a life, Yusuke. Just a body. In the end we all die anyway, so why not do it now and make some good come of it?" Kurama said softly.

"What the hell kind of reasoning is that?! I'm not gonna let you—"

Yusuke couldn't even finish the sentence before an open palm slammed into his stomach. The Spirit Detective flew through the air and was only saved from falling off the roof by the fence that was designed to keep people from jumping. He grabbed onto the fence with one hand, clutched his bruised abdomen with the other, and tried to catch his breath. Rasping, he raised his head to glare at Kurama.

"Can't you see it's better this way?" Kurama asked, voice quiet but resolute. "Everyone will benefit from my death. My mother will live. Hiei won't have to worry about being betrayed by me again. Even you will be able to reclaim the Ankokukyo without a fight." A pillar of blinding white light had begun to form around the Ankokukyo, and Kurama turned narrowed eyes on it. "I want this. It's the only purpose I've found for my life, and I accept it gladly."

"Kuh—rah—mah…!" Yusuke wheezed.

"Ankokukyo, awaken from your sleep!" Kurama said loudly, pointedly ignoring Yusuke as the detective let go of the fence and began to stumble his way toward him. "Let your face show my desire, that I may invoke your power!"

The mirror gleamed for a moment, and then Shiori's face appeared. Kurama's eyes filled with tears as he reached forward, passing his hand over the Ankokukyo as if to touch his mother's face.

"I wish for her…a lifetime of happiness." A tear spilled down his cheek, dropping on the surface of the Ankokukyo and making it ripple like water. "I offer my life as payment."

Almost at once, tendrils of wispy moon-white energy rose from the mirror. Kurama bit his lip, closing his eyes and whimpering as the tendrils latched onto his hand. The tendrils pulled, trying to take his life from his body, but it felt as if they would tear the flesh from his bones too. Had dying hurt this much before? Oh well, the pain wouldn't last long. A minute of pain was nothing compared to months of slow asphyxiation. Once he was dead he wouldn't feel a thing anyway. He did wonder where his soul would end up this time, though. Would he be reincarnated again, or would he go to Hell? Kurama felt his chest tighten with fear, but he didn't try to back away. Whatever happened, he deserved it…

Yusuke growled and collapsed to his knees beside Kurama, throwing his own palm out to the Ankokukyo.

"H—" Yusuke gasped in a breath. "Hey! My life—take _my life_ instead!"

Kurama's eyes went wide. "Yusuke, what are you doing?"

"My _job!_" Yusuke yelled. "I'm supposed to protect good people, to keep them safe! That is _my _purpose, Kurama!"

"Then why are you interfering? My mother—"

Yusuke closed his hand around Kurama's, and the youkai froze. Despite reality itself seeming to be sucked into the mirror, for that moment neither of them noticed. Yusuke held Kurama's hand firmly in his own and met his startled green eyes.

"She's not the only one who needs protecting, Kurama," Yusuke said. "Don't you get that?"

Kurama opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came. All that came from his mouth was a faint whimper of confusion, as if he couldn't understand…as if his hellish past had blinded him to the beauty and love he inspired in the world today. Yusuke tightened his grip on Kurama's hand, remembering the past few hours. The happy little girl with her arms full of sparkling lilies, the old man leaving the elevator with bright carnations…Shiori smiling as her son sat down beside her… Kurama had brought happiness to each one of those people, and probably to many others as well. It didn't matter if it was penance for his past crimes or if he just did it out of the goodness of his changed heart. Kurama _wasn't_ a bad person anymore. No matter what he had done in the past, the person he had come to be was worth saving.

The Ankokukyo exploded with light, making Yusuke and Kurama close their eyes against its brilliance. Neither heard the other's scream.

As the light dimmed around them, both Spirit Detective and youkai fell together, their hands still outstretched to the Ankokukyo. The last glimmers of moonlight slowly began to dissipate from the mirror. Gradually, the night returned to peaceful silence.

Just as the mirror's surface faded to black, green eyes snapped open. Kurama suddenly sat up, panting breathlessly, as if he had woken from a nightmare. Glancing down, he stared at the darkened surface of the Ankokukyo. He saw Yusuke laying beside him and reached out to him concernedly. The human boy was breathing shallowly, but he wasn't dead. But…if they both were alive… Had the mirror been unable to grant his wish?

* * *

"Shuichi!" the nurse gasped in surprise when Kurama burst into the room.

"My mother," Kurama panted, "is she…?"

Terrified green eyes went wide when he heard a familiar beeping sound. Kurama glanced around, seeing doctors and nurses gathered around the bed. Shiori lay there, an exhausted smile on her face as a nurse took away the respirator mask. The heart monitor beside her continued to slow, the beeping returning to a steady rhythm.

"Shuichi?" Shiori reached a trembling hand toward him. The dark blue spots on her fingertips were fading away—the magic of the Ankokukyo erasing the last traces of illness from her body. "Come here, please…"

Kurama almost stumbled over his own feet as he moved toward the bed. His eyes welled with tears as he wrapped his arms around his mother and pulled her forward. The doctor protested, saying that Shiori was still in a fragile condition and needed her rest, but Kurama did not hear him. He hugged his mother fiercely, protectively, and buried his face against her shoulder so no one would see him crying.


	3. That Which Comes Between Two Mountains 3

That Which Comes Between Two Mountains

by Mayushii

All copyright materials are property of their respective owners.

A/N: None. Because I'd hate to explain why I made the changes I did and sound like a pretentious bitch.

* * *

Hiei, Master of the Jagan

The Ankokukyo sat innocuously on the concrete, its surface reflecting an indigo sky interspersed with sparkling stars and swirls of paler blue. Slowly, the image of the night sky was blocked off as Yusuke leaned over the mirror. He cautiously inched toward the cursed treasure on hands and knees.

"It's safe."

Yusuke glanced up to find Kurama standing in the rooftop doorway, his hands tucked away in his pockets and his posture unguarded. The wind gusted across the rooftop, tugging at the youkai's clothing and fondly tousling his long, flowing hair. Everything about him seemed lighter.

"The Ankokukyo only has enough power to grant one wish at a time," Kurama explained. "It used up all of its power on my wish, so until the next full moon it's no more powerful than an ordinary mirror."

Yusuke frowned as Kurama walked toward him.

"If I touch this thing, what's gonna happen to me?" he asked seriously. Kurama blinked, his lips parting as if he wanted to speak but wasn't sure what to say. "The psychological effects. You said all three treasures have them. So what does the Ankokukyo do?"

"Ah, that. Well, the treasures compel the one who touches them to use them. The Ankokukyo latches onto the most desperate desire of your heart and clouds your judgment so that the mirror seems to be the only option for attaining your desire." Kurama smiled, amused by the irony. "Of course, I had already ruled out all other possibilities before considering the Ankokukyo, so it was a moot point with me. As for you, it won't bother wasting its energy trying to lure you in when it doesn't have the power to grant another wish."

"Thanks, that's really comforting," Yusuke said sarcastically, reaching one hand out to collect the Ankokukyo. A sudden weakness came over Yusuke and he started to pitch forward. Kurama was beside him in an instant, catching him before he could fall.

"Easy does it," Kurama said mildly. The youkai dragged the Spirit Detective's arm across his own shoulders to hold him up. Yusuke scowled, frustrated by his weakness.

"Well, this is embarrassing," Yusuke muttered. His scowl darkened when the shoulder supporting him began to shake with laughter. "What are you laughing about? We almost got killed here, ya know."

"I'm aware of that," Kurama laughed faintly. He managed to get himself back under control, but he was still smiling when he looked back up at Yusuke. "But we didn't die. As foolish as your actions tonight were, you saved us." The youkai's smile and eyes softened. "Thank you, Yusuke. I owe you my life."

Once again, Yusuke found himself staring into the youkai's eyes. It was strange. Not half an hour ago those eyes had been hopeless, willingly accepting death. Now they were so young and bright and lively, it was like looking at a different person. Yusuke felt really, stupidly happy knowing that he was the one responsible for that change. Damn, he was actually starting to like this Spirit Detective stuff. The work wasn't easy, but the results were worth it.

"Hey, don't mention it," Yusuke said comfortably, letting himself relax and rest against Kurama's shoulder. "You don't owe me anything."

"Well, you should at least let me help you get back to your apartment," Kurama murmured. "Your mother must be worried."

"So you know where I go to school, where I live and who makes my mac and cheese at night. That's not creepy at all…"

"Oh, I'm sure I know things much 'creepier' than that," Kurama teased. "Anyway, once you're safely home, I'll go to the Spirit World and turn myself in. You can even keep the mirror with you if you don't trust me to take it back."

Kurama chuckled softly, but Yusuke's brows knitted.

* * *

Unknown to the pair on the hospital's rooftop, another figure stood under the same night sky several kilometers away. A ship's air horn sounded somewhere offshore, accompanied by the cry of seagulls and the lapping of water against the docks. The figure on top of the shipping storehouse frowned darkly, his red eyes sparking with anger while a third, blue-violet eye stared from the center of his forehead. The Jagan's iris glowed with pale blue energy as it peered into the distance.

_Kurama… You have no concept of loyalty at all, do you?_

With his Jagan, Hiei could watch from across town while Kurama attempted to help the Spirit Detective to his feet. Hiei didn't know what they were saying (the Jagan couldn't hear), but he was hardly an idiot. He could see the way his ex-partner's lips curved sweetly and the way his eyes glimmered with fondness. The human boy leaned against Kurama for support, frowning and saying something that made the fox youkai laugh. Hiei's lip curled with disgust at the very sight.

_First Gouki gets himself killed, and now Kurama runs off with the Spirit Detective. Guess this is what I get for putting my faith in others_, Hiei thought savagely. His fingers itched to take hold of the Kouma-no-Ken and slash someone to pieces, but he wasn't sure whose death would be more satisfying. _I should have just taken all three treasures by myself._

Blue energy dimmed as the Jagan closed, and Hiei placed a crisp white bandana over the third eye to conceal it.

He didn't much care about Gouki. The idiot had been stupid enough to be trapped by a human brat, so he wasn't worth mourning. Kurama, on the other hand… Hiei had _admired_ him. Youko Kurama had gained legendary status as a thief, a trickster and a strategist. For years Hiei had held that image in his head as the ideal youkai. He had aspired to be like him, even going so far as to name himself after the mountain closest to Mt. Kurama. Hiei had worked so hard to prove himself as the fox youkai's equal… Now he realized it was all a sham. Kurama had never intended to acknowledge him. He'd probably only kept Hiei around so he could laugh at his desperate attempts to win him over. The glitter in Kurama's eyes, which Hiei had mistaken for interest, had been nothing but mockery…

Hiei knotted his bandana with a bit more violence than necessary. Kurama would pay for making a fool of him. He would have that bastard fox writhing and crying and begging for mercy before he was done with him. But he'd save that for later. For now, Hiei would focus on more important matters. The Gakidama and the Ankokukyo were now in the hands of a single human boy; all he had to do was defeat Yusuke Urameshi and the treasures would belong to him.

Resolving to do just that, Hiei reached into his long black coat and drew the Kouma-no-Ken, raising it so he could see his own distorted reflection in its blade. The sword was ancient, straight rather than curved like a katana, and its handle was the same crudely-shaped brown clay as the Ankokukyo's frame. At the end of the hilt dangled a clear vial filled with pink-tinted water. It wasn't an elegant sword, but it served its purpose.

A low, sluggish moan drifted up from the storehouse below, and Hiei smirked. It sounded like another of his victims had woken.

"Hn… Who needs Kurama, anyway? With this sword I can make a hundred—no, a _thousand _youkai who will listen to me and obey my every whim." The dark smile stretched across Hiei's lips as he saw a few of the newly enslaved humans walking below. Their movements were stilted, their skin ghostly pale in the night. "I think I'll add the Spirit Detective to my collection."

Hiei smiled manically at the thought, the red of his eyes overtaken by a feverish, flickering darkness.

* * *

Sarayashiki High's school bell sounded, not that Yusuke cared. He sat on top of the school's clock tower, one leg stretched out in front of him while he kept his arms firmly wrapped about the other one. He stared past the school gates with narrowed eyes.

"Hey Yusuke, are you up here?" The Spirit Detective turned his head, watching as a familiar blue ponytail appeared. Botan reached the top of the ladder, and Yusuke quirked an eyebrow.

"What are you _wearing?_" Yusuke said incredulously.

"Isn't it obvious? I'll stand out if I meet you at school in street clothes," Botan answered, sticking out her tongue.

Yusuke wasn't sure how Botan thought the school uniform was going to help her blend in. Her sky-blue hair alone would get her kicked out if she ever tried to step into a classroom. The skirt didn't look too bad on her, though… Now would have been the moment to wonder what kind of panties Botan was wearing, but Yusuke merely snorted with mild contempt and went back to looking out at the world beyond the school.

"Wow, are you feeling okay?" Botan asked, surprise evident in her voice.

"No. No, actually, I'm not. Botan, what the hell were you guys trying to pull?" The ferrygirl opened her mouth, a look of confusion and discomfort coming over her face, but she didn't say anything. Yusuke sneered slightly. "You let me think all youkai were monsters. Sure, Gouki used the Gakidama to steal kids' souls and tried to eat me alive, but Kurama only wanted to save his mom. He was willing to sacrifice everything so she could live."

"Yusuke…" Botan said quietly.

"So why didn't you tell me youkai could be like that? Why'd you let me think they were all evil?" Yusuke pushed. His voice grew louder, strengthened by anger that was directed more at his own gullibility than anything else. "Thought I couldn't take the truth?"

Botan sighed, crawling across the rooftop and sitting beside Yusuke.

"Even if Kurama did have good intentions, what he did wasn't right. He helped steal the treasures and put them in the hands of two youkai who _didn't _have good intentions," Botan said. "We never tried to hide anything from you, Yusuke. We just didn't think it was…prudent…to let you get close to the youkai you're supposed to be bringing to justice. Their motivation for committing their crimes is taken into account when they're sentenced, but we can't just let criminals go. Kurama did something wrong—he has to own up to that."

"Tch." Yusuke's face twisted with disdain, but he didn't bother arguing. Botan attempted a small smile.

"Don't worry too much about Kurama. He's probably going to get off with a light punishment. Like you said, he was trying to save someone else." Botan's smile widened. "The Spirit World looks favorably on acts of self-sacrifice. You of all people should know that."

Yusuke sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Botan."

Botan beamed. "Great! I'm glad we got that all cleared up. So, when do you think you can get started on tracking down Hiei?"

"I dunno," Yusuke shrugged. "I'm still kind of woozy from the Ankokukyo."

"Well, we don't have a lot of time left," Botan frowned. "We should get started as soon as—"

A loud squeak of door hinges made her pause.

"Yusuke?" Keiko's voice called tentatively. "Yusuke, are you up here?"

Yusuke made his way to the edge of the clock tower and leapt down, landing with a crunch of gravel on the lower rooftop. Keiko whirled around to face him.

"Sup, Keiko?" Yusuke said. Keiko's startled look turned to one of annoyance as she folded her arms over her chest.

"I knew you'd be up here!" she said, back to her usual pushy self. "Mr. Takenaka's looking for you. You're the only one in class who hasn't turned in his book report. I don't suppose you took time out of your busy schedule to actually _read _the book?"

Yusuke folded his arms, mimicking Keiko's pose and tone of voice precisely. "I don't suppose it occurred to you that I might have more _important _things to do?"

"Hard to balance school and work, huh?" Botan chirped. Yusuke and Keiko both blinked and turned as Botan landed nearby. She rose to her full height, one hand on her hip, and offered a confident smile. "Hiya Keiko!"

For the first time in her life, Keiko Yukimura seemed to be at a loss for words. Her mouth hung open in disbelief as her wide eyes fixated on Botan's blue hair. As if the shock of finding Yusuke with such a strange-looking girl wasn't bad enough, Botan zipped forward to seize Keiko's hand. The poor confused schoolgirl stared as her entire arm was waved up and down in a vigorous Western-style handshake.

"My name's Botan! You can call me Botan! It's so great to finally meet you in person!" Botan said cheerfully.

Keiko closed her mouth, attempting to regain some composure. "Excuse me?"

"Quite an ordeal we've had with our boy Yusuke, huh? I'm amazed at how well you've been taking all this! Most people go neck-deep into denial when they first learn about the Spiri—_mmph?_"

The rest of Botan's sentence was muffled as a hand covered her mouth from behind and another arm wrapped around her middle. Yusuke dragged her back a few paces, hissing furiously in her ear: "I haven't told Keiko anything about you or the Spirit World. You mind not blabbing?"

Botan blinked. Yusuke quickly let her go, and the blue-haired girl cleared her throat, giggling awkwardly.

"Um…well! It was a pleasure talking to you, Keiko, but I have to…go to class now…" Botan gave another nervous laugh, waved, and hurried away. The door screeched shut, leaving Yusuke and Keiko alone on the roof.

"I've never seen her around school before," Keiko said to herself. She turned, looking at Yusuke with curiosity and suspicion. "Yusuke, who was that girl?"

"Uh, see, Botan's kind of a friend… Well she's not really a friend, but we kind of do stuff together, you know?" Yusuke gesticulated with his hands, not sure how to define his relationship with Botan without mentioning she was the emissary of death who had sort of stolen his first kiss. Keiko's face went blank, and he could practically see her thoughts as each of the dots in an ellipses popped up. The three dots led to a mental image of Botan posing steamily in a schoolgirl fetish costume while a wolf-eared Yusuke whistled in the background. Yusuke shook his head and waved his hands frantically. "No, wait, I swear it's not like that! It's just— It's a really long story, and…"

"I see," Keiko said flatly. Yusuke cringed, knowing that toneless voice a little too well. "Now go hand in the book report. Mr. Takenaka already has your name down for detention for skipping class again. I'd hate for you to make things worse for yourself."

Keiko turned and marched toward the door, Yusuke calling after her that it really wasn't what it looked like. When the door slammed shut again, Yusuke grimaced. _That could have gone better…_

* * *

A few hours later, Keiko was one of the first students to leave the school. She passed through the front gates and began the trek back to her family's diner. She was used to walking home by herself—Yusuke was always either cutting school or stuck in detention—but today was the first time Keiko really felt alone.

_Botan's kind of a friend… _What did Yusuke see in that girl, anyway? Botan wasn't the one who had been looking out for Yusuke since he was four years old. She hadn't grieved for him when he'd died or run into a burning building to save his life. So why had Botan caught Yusuke's interest? Was it because she looked better? Was it because she was willing to ditch class along with Yusuke and dye her hair colors that would get her in trouble with the teachers? Keiko clenched the strap of her school bag.

"Fine, see if I care," Keiko huffed. She glared at her own shadow as she followed it down the sidewalk. Boys could be so stupid sometimes…

A loud groan made Keiko glance up. There was a woman and a boy in a Sarayashiki uniform in the street ahead of her, moaning and staggering. The skin on the back of the boy's neck was a sickly pale. Keiko hurried after them.

"Um, are you okay? Do you need a doctor?" she called.

The pair turned to look at Keiko—at least, they would have been looking at her if they could see. Keiko gasped, covering her mouth with one hand when she saw their faces. Their eyes were rolled up in their sockets, only the redshot whites visible. Even worse than their unseeing eyes were the bloodless gashes across their foreheads. As Keiko watched, the cuts widened and a strange blue light began to pour through the broken skin.

"O-oh, I see. Well then, sorry to have bothered you," Keiko said meekly. She whirled around, ready to break into a full run, only to find a small boy blocking her way. He was barely as tall as Keiko, but the sword gleaming in his hands was more than enough to stop her in her tracks.

The next thing Keiko knew, the boy had somehow disappeared. Her eyes went wide in shock. Then there was a white-hot slice of pain in her head and the world turned black around her.

* * *

Yusuke had been in detention for nearly an hour, and it wasn't getting any less boring. He had whiled away the first half drawing cartoons of Botan and Keiko in skimpy school uniforms. Sadly, it wasn't much fun since he had zero artistic talent. He sighed and balanced his pencil on the tip of one finger, staring blankly out the window. The sun would be setting soon. It looked like he would have to catch Hiei tomorrow…

The silence of the classroom was shattered by a shrill beeping. Yusuke glanced down at the Youkai Compass to find it was picking up an energy signature from the southeast. _Oh, great. So much for taking a day to recover, _he thought as he covered the compass's flashing red face with one hand.

"Urameshi, would you mind turning off your cell phone?" Takenaka said, disgruntled. Yusuke jumped from his seat.

"Sorry Takenaka, mom's calling!" With that, Yusuke fled the classroom. He ignored his teacher's shouting as he dashed down the hall and out of the school, following the energy signal. He had been running for nearly four kilometers and was already halfway across the bridge to Sarayashiki's harbor when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Hey, Yusuke!" Botan called. "Hold on a minute!"

Yusuke slowed to a stop and looked impatiently at the Youkai Compass. The compass needle pointed toward the shipping storehouses on the other side of the river.

By the time Botan reached him she looked like she was ready to pass out. She slumped forward, propping herself up with her hands on her knees while she gasped for breath.

"Botan, the Youkai Compass started going off at school saying he was five hundred meters away, but I just ran at least four k," Yusuke said when he was sure Botan wouldn't cough up a lung. "What's wrong with this thing? Is it broken?"

"He—must be keeping ahead of you by exactly five hundred meters," Botan panted. She swallowed, catching her breath a bit. "Hiei wants you to come after him. He's probably leading you into a trap."

"Well isn't that typical?" Yusuke said sarcastically. "So what the hell am I supposed to do, not follow him? How do you expect me to catch him then? Do you want me just to sit on my ass and hope he turns himself in?"

"I don't know," Botan said, biting her lip. "But please don't just rush in there. Be careful."

"Fine, fine…"

* * *

As it turned out, being careful was a complete waste of time. Yusuke scowled with annoyance as he held a small magnifying lens up to the storehouse door and peered through it. Botan had assured him that this Reito Lens would be a useful tool for a Spirit Detective, but all he could see inside were stacks of wooden crates and a ladder leading up to a series of metal catwalks. The crates obscured his view of the deeper parts of the storehouse, since the Reito Lens apparently couldn't see through anything more than three meters away. In any case, it looked safe enough to go inside.

"I don't see anything," Yusuke announced. He pocketed the Reito Lens. "Now can we go in?"

"…I guess so," Botan said, not sounding convinced. Yusuke rolled his eyes and pushed the door open.

Once they entered the storehouse, Yusuke heard a low groaning sound. Several lopsided figures staggered out from their hiding places behind the boxes up ahead. They were dressed like humans, but their skin was blanched and a third eye stared out from the center of each of their foreheads. Yusuke's eye twitched.

"Oh, screw it. I'm doing things my way from now on."

He charged forward without a second thought. At least these youkai weren't hard to beat; one hard punch to the face sent most of them sprawling. While Yusuke continued to knock the remaining youkai around like rag dolls, Botan kneeled beside the first few and looked at them closely.

"Yusuke, these are just humans," Botan breathed.

"Yeah, so what?" Yusuke said unconcernedly.

"Their third eyes aren't natural. They're Jagan—eyes that enhance supernatural powers." Botan held her hand above one of the eyes in question, frowning as she probed them with her sixth sense. "I don't sense very much power from them though. They're only copies. But that means Hiei must possess the real Jagan."

"Ooh, very good."

The Spirit Detective and his assistant both jerked, startled. Yusuke glanced at Botan pointedly, and she quickly went to half-hide behind Yusuke before they followed Hiei's voice further in. The moaning grew louder as they walked. Soon Yusuke saw the source of the noise: at least twenty humans lay close together on the ground, sleeping fitfully, their foreheads decorated with cuts. Some of the cuts were small, others were gaping open and starting to emit blue energy.

"Up here, Detective," Hiei called lazily. Yusuke and Botan glanced up, catching sight of Hiei lounging atop a tall stack of crates. In his hand he held the Kouma-no-Ken, and he studied the sword as if he himself were entranced by its power.

Yusuke's first thought was that Hiei wasn't nearly as intimidating as Gouki had been. He was actually shorter than Yusuke, and he wore a loose white scarf and a black knee-length coat that made it impossible to determine his build. His hair was even less human than Kurama's: all but the fringe swept upward like a blue-black flame, and a patch of white strands formed a starburst above his face as if to crown the Jagan staring out from under his bangs. Hiei's other two eyes were too big, the color blood-red and the shape more feline than human. Unlike Kurama and Gouki, this youkai definitely _couldn't_ pass for human.

As Yusuke peered up at Hiei, he realized that the little youkai evoked a strange sense of wonder in him. There was fear, certainly—how could he not be afraid when Hiei was staring at that sword so fixatedly? But at the same time Yusuke felt the same surreal urge to get closer, to reach out and touch him, as if to prove that such a being could exist.

"Remarkable, isn't it?" Hiei said softly, not even bothering to look at Yusuke and Botan. He raised the sword up above his head to look at the underside. "It absorbs part of my power and merges it into the body of anyone I cut. All those humans down there are merely extensions of me."

Botan suddenly tugged at Yusuke's sleeve.

"Yusuke," she gasped, "it's Keiko…!"

"What?" Yusuke's eyes snapped back down to the humans, raking over their limp bodies. He finally spotted a girl in a Sarayashiki uniform. She lay on her side near the edge of the pile of bodies, her brown hair falling over her face. Yusuke and Botan ran toward her. "Keiko?"

"Oh, did you know her?" Hiei watched as the detective and his assistant dropped to their knees beside the unconscious girl. "She's my latest acquisition. She hasn't been fully transformed yet, but once her Jagan opens completely, she'll be just another slave."

Yusuke grabbed Keiko by the shoulders, turning her onto her back and shaking her.

"Keiko, can you hear me? Keiko!" he shouted. Botan shoved him aside.

"Move over!" Botan ordered. She held her hand above Keiko's face, fingers spread, and sent out a burst of sun-bright spirit energy. Yusuke fully expected the cursed cut to resist healing. To his surprise, the wound sealed up instantly on contact with Botan's energy. The pair breathed sighs of relief.

"Looks like your little plan has failed," Yusuke said, sending a smirk up at Hiei. The little youkai closed his eyes and shrugged carelessly.

"Um, Yusuke? Small problem," Botan said nervously.

Yusuke glanced back. The cut had reappeared on Keiko's head. After a second it began to creep its way open. Botan poured more energy into the cut, but this time it only shrank, leaving its clear impression on Keiko's skin.

"It's no use," Hiei said, hopping down from his perch and landing on his feet with the poise of a cat. "A cut from the Kouma-no-Ken cannot be healed through normal means or even by spirit energy. The only treatment is this." He held up the sword, and Yusuke suddenly noticed a small glass vial dangling from the end of the hilt. A translucent pink fluid splashed around inside. Hiei smirked, flicking the precious vial with his finger. "Tell you what, I'll let you have the girl and the antidote if you hand over the other two treasures."

"Sorry, I don't have them anymore," Yusuke said defiantly. "They're already back in the Spirit World."

Hiei's smirk twisted into a scowl.

"How unfortunate. Well, then, I guess your only hope for saving the girl is taking the sword from me by force."


	4. That Which Comes Between Two Mountains 4

That Which Comes Between Two Mountains

by Mayushii

All copyright materials are property of their respective owners.

A/N: The fourth chapter! Thanks for your reviews, everyone. I hope you're enjoying the story. Now, before you go on I should warn you that I've changed pretty much the entire Yusuke vs. Hiei fight. I have good reasons for this, but someone has kindly advised me not to leave "rants" at the end of my stories because I sound "arrogant," "pretentious," etc. So I hope you will be able to figure out for yourselves why I wrote this the way I did.

-Some parts of this chapter are from Kurama and Hiei's POVs. I felt a change was justified since this is Kurama and Hiei's introduction and what really establishes them as characters.

* * *

Bonds of Fire

If Yusuke had thought his job as Spirit Detective was difficult before, it was nothing compared to what he felt now. For one thing, he was faced with a real live youkai with superpowers and a sword that could turn humans into mindless monsters. For another, the stakes weren't just his own or Keiko's safety; if he let Hiei get away, the entire city would be easy prey. And to top all that, he was under a time limit. Already the sunny yellow glow of Botan's energy was starting to look like sparks of electricity as she was forced to exert more and more to seal Keiko's Jagan.

"Well, Detective?" Hiei prompted when Yusuke just stood there with his fists clenched. "Aren't you at least going to try? If not, you may as well tell your assistant to stop wasting her spirit energy. All she's doing is delaying the inevitable. Once she's drained herself dry, there won't be anything to prevent the eye from opening."

Botan ignored those words with a look of fierce determination, but she couldn't stop herself from whimpering as her own energy began to singe her hands.

"Don't worry about me. I'll stop this as long as I can. Just hurry up and get that sword back!" Botan said.

"Botan…" Had Yusuke really been mad at her before? Now that she was hurting herself just to keep Keiko safe, he couldn't even remember why he had been angry. Yusuke firmed his resolve, standing up so he could glare at Hiei properly. "Just leave it to me. I'll take care of this little creep."

Without another word, Yusuke charged. Hiei stared unflinchingly, not even attempting to get out of the way—_stupid bastard_—and Yusuke's fist connected with the youkai's face.

Or he thought it did. The edges of that face blurred, and the next thing Yusuke knew he was punching through empty air. With no solid body to oppose the force of his punch, he was on a collision course with the floor. He barely had time to shut his eyes and shift his arm to protect himself before he landed hard on the cement.

"Nice try," Hiei said quietly. "You only missed me by two meters."

Yusuke grimaced. What the hell had happened? Punches were supposed to hurt the other guy, not him! He twitched his body a bit, using the pain from that small movement to assess the damage. His right forearm had taken the brunt of the fall. The skin under his sleeve was stinging, probably scraped, and he thought he could feel blood trickling down to his elbow. At least it didn't feel like he'd broken anything. He hissed slightly and pushed himself up.

"Bastard, where did you…" Yusuke caught sight of Hiei standing several meters away. _What? How did he get over there? Did he teleport?_

Hiei raised an eyebrow.

"You couldn't even see me move. That's really pitiful, Detective." Hiei blurred again and disappeared. Yusuke blinked in shock, his eyes shifting to a stack of boxes where Hiei had rematerialized. The youkai noticed the lag in the human's eye movements and smirked. "Unbelievable. I can't even imagine having eyes as slow as yours." Yusuke growled in annoyance, and Hiei snorted softly, sheathing the Kouma-no-Ken. "It would just be cruel to use the sword against you. Tell you what: I'll kill you with my bare hands to make things fair."

"Gee, that's nice of you," Yusuke growled sarcastically. "If I didn't have to kick your ass I bet we would've made great pals!"

Yusuke lurched to his feet and broke into a run, quickly jabbing with his right fist and feeling the warm surge of spirit power rising to the surface. This time he saw the blur as Hiei moved to the side. He aimed a hard left at the flickering image, but Hiei was gone before the outline fully settled. _Damn it, damn it, damn it! _Yusuke punched faster and faster, feeling his spirit energy pulsing with frustration as he continued to miss. _Why—won't—he—hold—STILL?_

Hiei actually had the nerve to laugh as he sidestepped the last punch and sprang backward. Yusuke watched the little youkai move out of his reach and skidded to a stop, panting and glaring.

"Ooh, you really got me," Hiei snickered, as if they had simply been playing tag. "Allow me to retaliate."

The youkai lunged forward, and Yusuke realized that he could actually follow the movements now. They were slightly blurred, but Yusuke could still see the fist coming at him. He raised his left hand—something solid connected with his open palm—and he caught Hiei's punch.

"Got you!" Yusuke said triumphantly, closing his hand like a vice around that small fist. "Heh, try flitting away now."

Something in Hiei's face shifted, transforming his smirk into a grotesque grin. Yusuke had enough time to appreciate that Hiei really did look like a monster before his hand was suddenly blasted with heat. He screamed and stumbled backward, clutching at his wrist. Hissing painfully, the Spirit Detective raised his injured hand and stared in shock at the blisters all over it. _Burns… _He looked past his hand and Hiei came back into focus. The youkai's raised fist was literally blazing with fiery green energy.

"Interesting. Most humans would turn to ashes at the slightest touch of my energy," Hiei said, sounding almost impressed as the green flames licked up his forearm and vanished. "It seems you do have some spiritual defenses. However, that will not be enough to save you…or your friends, for that matter."

Hiei darted forward, yelling inhumanly, and Yusuke only had enough time to take a single step back.

The attack was devastating. Hiei's blows landed so fast that Yusuke didn't even have time to register the pain of one before another hit, each punch delivered with a blast of green fire that seared through his jacket and shirt. Two seconds and sixteen solid punches later, Yusuke swung his right forearm up in a circle, trying to deflect. He actually managed to stop Hiei's left fist, but the youkai just continued the rotating motion and grabbed onto Yusuke's wrist. Hiei growled fiercely, drawing his free right arm back and down. Yusuke watched in what felt like slow motion, seeing the blow coming but unable to react in time. The uppercut sank solidly into his gut, sending bile straight up to the back of his mouth and lifting him off his feet. In half a second Hiei had let go of Yusuke's wrist and sent his entire left arm smashing into Yusuke's middle, shoving him as hard as he could.

The Spirit Detective cried out as he was thrown backward against a large crate. The impact shattered the crate's planking to splinters, and as if to add insult to injury, the contents of the crate showered down on his unmoving body. Yusuek lay amid the sparkly, bruising rain of what he could only guess were _really _inconveniently shaped paperweights.

_Bastard… _Yusuke tried to make himself sit up. He couldn't move; the burns down his torso were agony. He barely managed to lift his head, and even then all he could see was a vague shadow of Hiei. Only this time it wasn't because the youkai was moving fast. _Sorry Keiko…Botan… Looks like I screwed this one up…_

And then something was in front of him. Yusuke blinked, trying to focus. What was that?

"You?" Hiei's voice faltered.

Yusuke blinked again and…yes, he could make out the curve of long red hair laying against the back of a familiar school uniform. Kurama was standing between him and Hiei, poised to attack with what looked like an overgrown blade of grass.

"K-Kurama?" Yusuke rasped. He gripped the edge of the crate and forcibly pulled himself up, blinking to clear his vision. "What are you doing here? I thought you turned yourself in…"

Kurama was silent. Yusuke couldn't see his expression; the fox youkai refused to turn around. But Yusuke could see Hiei. He could see the uncertainty as the little youkai searched his partner's face, and he could see the way that uncertainty darkened into understanding.

"So that's how it is. They let you walk in exchange for helping the detective catch me," Hiei said flatly. Yusuke's attention snapped to Kurama as the fox youkai slowly nodded. Hiei bowed his head, shadows falling over all three of his eyes. "You would have been better off staying in prison."

Hiei reached up, loosening his white scarf and black coat and tossing them aside. _Oh my God_, Yusuke thought in alarm. Hiei had more than three eyes—many, many more. His entire body was covered with cuts, all tinged an infected green around the edges, all cracking open to reveal filmy, corpselike eyes.

"What have you done to yourself, my friend?" Kurama asked gently.

The little monster threw his head back, laughing wildly as every one of his hundred Jagan flashed.

"I have done what no other before me has. I have discovered the true power of the Kouma-no-Ken!" Hiei lowered his head so he could stare at Kurama with eyes flickering black with bloodlust. "You see, its real power is not in making extensions of myself in others, but in magnifying my own energy. No one else ever thought to try cutting _themselves_ with the blade. Willingness to take risks… Just one of the many things I learned from you, _Partner_."

Hiei smiled viciously, unsheathing the Kouma-no-Ken. His own green energy mingled with the blue from the Jagan as he let power surge around him. He neither noticed nor cared that a third aura, dangerous jet-black, crackled up along the sword and wrapped around his arm as if to bind him to the weapon. Hiei saw the fear in Kurama's eyes and mistook it for fear _of_ him, rather than _for_ him.

"Ha! Yes, you can feel my power, can't you? It must terrify you," Hiei gloated. "I'll bet now you wish you hadn't betrayed me!"

Hiei ran forward to attack. Kurama backed up a step, bracing himself, magenta energy spreading from his hands to reinforce his own plant sword.

Yusuke stared in openmouthed awe as metal blade met grass. The pair struggled for a moment before Kurama stepped to the side, his blade shrieking against Hiei's. The smaller youkai withdrew the force behind his own strike and spun in time to block Kurama's counter. Soon they were striking and blocking and dodging almost quicker than Yusuke could follow. They were both so fast, so perfectly timed and matched to each other—Yusuke was speechless.

_They're not human_, he thought with wonder as the two youkai's energies clashed. _This is what I'm supposed to be competing against…_ _Insane._

* * *

_The youkai was a sharp one, Kurama thought with approval. Even after regaining consciousness he was pretending to be asleep, keeping his eyes closed while he scoped out his surroundings with his other senses. Kurama smiled when the youkai sniffed the air around him, trying to place the unfamiliar scent of a human's bedroom. Still, Kurama waited until the youkai grew bold enough to reach out with his spirit to make his own presence known. He flared his energy a tiny bit and startled the little one enough that he tried to jump out of the bed._

"_F—auhhh!" The little youkai collapsed back, unable to move because of the pain it caused him. He stayed still for a moment, sweating and panting. Finally, he groaned and slowly reached a hand up to the deepest of his wounds, the one that had just missed his heart. When he felt the bandages swathed around his chest he frowned in confusion. Kurama marked his place in his book and set it aside._

"_You shouldn't be trying to move just yet," he said amicably as he left his desk. He didn't flinch when the youkai's eyes snapped to him. "Your wounds haven't fully healed yet."_

"_You…" The youkai looked like he wanted to make a second attempt at a dramatic leap from the bed, but he simply lay there, knowing he couldn't fulfill the glaring threat in his eyes. Such nice eyes they were, too—wide and red and shaped like a cat's. It was a welcome change after looking at nothing but human eyes for so long._

_Kurama smiled wider, leaning over the youkai until his hair spilled over his shoulders. Those wary red eyes flickered down as if they somehow sensed the arsenal that lay hidden among the strands. "I'm Kurama. Sorry I couldn't tell you sooner, but you passed out before I could say anything."_

"_Tch." The little youkai turned his head away, scowling at the wall. Then he blinked. "Did you say 'Kurama'?"_

* * *

They really did complement each other.

Hiei was the aggressor, there was no denying that. His sword flashed brightly as he slashed at Kurama, barraging him with attacks. He was a hard martial artist—one who relied on his own brute force to pummel an enemy into submission. It was a style that suited him well with his strength, speed, and aggressive disposition.

Kurama, on the other hand, used a style that perfectly opposed Hiei's. He moved so gracefully it was like he was dancing, and each tiny shift in posture somehow redirected the smaller youkai so his strikes never hit where they should. Kurama didn't seem particularly pressed to go on the attack. While the need to draw blood consumed Hiei until he could think of nothing else, Kurama's mind was fluttering, seeking any bit of information he could use to win.

As Hiei quickly pulled back the force behind another misdirected attack, Kurama's eyes thinned. _He's stronger than me…and much faster. And he knows my fighting style as well as I know his. He pulls back before I can catch him off balance. At this rate, he'll overpower me. I have to get him to stop attacking…!_

* * *

_Kurama blinked when a small velvet bag landed on the desk in front of him. "And what is this?"_

"_Just a souvenir I picked up from the house of Lord Chi," Hiei said, dropping the name of the famously well-guarded mansion as if it had been a cinch to break into. Kurama loosened the drawstring on the bag and picked up the treasure. It was a silver ring set with a dazzling, marquise-shaped emerald that was probably worth more than Kurama's house. "You can have it if you like," Hiei added._

_Kurama held back a sigh. Hiei had made it clear that he wanted to partner up, and he had offered all kinds of valuables to convince the fox youkai of his worth. In the past twelve weeks Hiei had made several trips to the demon realm, only to return to Kurama's room a few days later with the most precious treasures he could steal. Kurama hadn't noticed until the third trip that Hiei's targets were emeralds—intense green ones that were cut until they sparkled with a sort of inner light. Hiei had never said anything about this, but the fact that they all precisely matched Kurama's eye color said plenty. Well, at least he wasn't afraid to go after what he wanted._

"_Kurama," Hiei said, forcing himself to sound nonchalant as his gift was replaced inside the bag. "It's been three months. When are you going to let me be your partner?"_

"_When you've proven yourself," Kurama answered._

"_How am I supposed to do that? I've already stolen every treasure I can think of, what more do you want?" Hiei asked, a bit of impatience creeping into his voice._

_Kurama pretended to think about it. In truth, he had known for a while now what he wanted Hiei to do. He had simply let the unfortunate little youkai carry on with his crime spree because he wanted him to build up a sense of desperation. Hiei was now at the point where he would do anything to prove himself…even risk his life to steal the Treasures of the Damned right from under Koenma's nose. With a very deliberate slowness, Kurama answered, "Well… There is one thing you could do, but it wouldn't be very safe."_

_Hiei's eyes sparked with eagerness. "Can't make any big gains if you can't take some risks. What is it?"_

* * *

"What's wrong? You're so quiet," Hiei taunted as yet another strike slid uselessly away. "Don't tell me you actually feel _guilty _now."

"…Yes, I do," Kurama answered, keeping pace as Hiei's attacks came stronger and faster. "Of course I feel guilty. You were a good partner, and all I did was take advantage of you. I'm sorry, but in the end there was nothing else I could do. I hope that you will be able to forgive me someday."

Hiei snorted with contempt. "Keh. You of all people should know, Kurama…"

Yusuke watched as if in slow motion as Hiei swung his sword, sliding it down the length of the plant blade until he cut Kurama's hand. The fox youkai's weapon reverted to a harmless shred of grass, and Yusuke's stomach lurched. It didn't matter that Hiei could move faster than human eyes could follow, because at that moment time seemed to stop. Hiei thrust the Kouma-no-Ken—and Kurama did nothing to defend himself as it speared him through the abdomen.

"K—_Kurama!_" Yusuke yelled, his heart leaping into his throat. Hiei's eyes were ice-cold.

"…There is no mercy for the enemy."

Hiei pushed the sword deeper, making Kurama cry out in agony as it was buried to the hilt. The fox youkai curled inward, panting, sobbing, spilling blood all over the gleaming blade and his former partner's hands. Hiei moved forward so Kurama could collapse against him.

"Die quickly," he said dispassionately.

Kurama coughed and spattered blood on Hiei's shoulder. His clammy hands fumbled over Hiei, one catching his shoulder and the other burying itself in his hair. Such a feeble attempt to comfort himself in the face of death… The impulses that had dominated Hiei for the past few days urged him to slice Kurama to ribbons and laugh at his miserable fate, but an empty feeling in his chest kept him still. Somehow, watching the traitor suffer didn't bring him the satisfaction he'd thought it would.

"Hey… Hiei?" Kurama murmured. "You'll have to forgive me for this one too."

Hiei blinked, confused by how steady his dying partner's voice sounded. That was all the time Kurama needed to slip his bloodied hand from Hiei's hair and crush the heel of his palm into the open Jagan. The little youkai let out a bloodcurdling shriek, reeling back and covering the bruised eye with his hands. He moaned wretchedly as the copies all over his body clenched shut.

Unable to hold himself up without Hiei's body to lean on, Kurama crumpled to the floor, curled in a fetal position with his hair shrouding his face.

"Kurama!" Yusuke pulled himself to his feet and stumbled the few steps it took to get to the bleeding fox youkai. "Hey! Don't you dare die on me, you son of a bitch, I was just starting to like you!"

His concern was met with a small smile. "I'm…glad to hear that, Yusuke…but I'm not _that_ weak." Kurama turned his head so his hair slipped down, falling out of his eyes and laying across his sweat-soaked cheek instead. "And look what I've got." Yusuke blinked as Kurama grabbed the vial and yanked it free of the Kouma-no-Ken's hilt. That slight tug on the sword made Kurama's eyes flicker, and he swayed worryingly for a moment. "Y-your…assistant and I will administer the antidote… As for Hiei, you should be able to handle him on your own now."

Yusuke watched as Hiei took shuddering, gasping breaths, his hands still cupped over his Jagan. "Yeah. I've got him."

Hiei dragged his hand away from his face, his undamaged eyes watering with pain as he watched Kurama stagger away. All of this pain… It was _his_ fault. Hiei felt his skin crawling, his body spasming as abject hatred coursed through him like an electric current.

"_I'll kill you for this!_"Hiei screamed."_I'll __**kill**__ you! I'll skin you alive and turn you to dust, you backstabbing little—_"

"The _hell_ you will!" Yusuke rumbled. Hiei's eyes darted back to him. "You want to kill anyone, you have to get through me first!"

Hiei balked at the tendrils of spiritual light twining around the Spirit Detective's body. _His energy—it's burning nearly as bright as mine now! Why?! Where could he have gotten all this power…?! _Hiei heard a yelp nearby and glanced back to Yusuke's friends. The blue-haired girl had the brunette's head cushioned in her lap and was staring distrustfully as Kurama offered her the vial of antidote. _He wants to protect them, _Hiei realized.

"That's where your strength comes from. You're not much on your own, but when someone else is relying on you, your spirit rises to the occasion." Hiei's eyes lingered on the girls for a moment longer before turning to glare at Yusuke with indignation. "Why?! They're just going to turn against you in the end! It's in their nature! There's no point in fighting for anyone but yourself!"

Yusuke smirked. "I guess I just like the whole part-time superhero deal. Makes me feel all special."

Hiei gave him a look of revulsion. "Idiotic heroism… No wonder you took the job as Spirit Detective. You're just dying for a chance to save the day, aren't you?"

"Yeah? So maybe I am. At least I'm getting something out of all my hard work. Can't say the same for you, though, can we?" As the look on Hiei's face shifted from angry to livid, Yusuke hit him where it hurt. "It must really suck to see all your great plans just slip through your fingers."

Yusuke barely had time to raise his hands to block before Hiei was in front of him, grace and form abandoned for a rage-driven frenzy of teeth and fingernails. Yusuke didn't even try to see the attack coming anymore; he just let his hands move out of instinct, and somehow, incredibly, he was defending himself. While Hiei concentrated on trying to break through, Yusuke aimed his leg in a low sweep, sending him to the ground. He dove with his fist aimed at Hiei's jaw for a knockout punch, but the little youkai caught Yusuke in the stomach with his feet and sent him somersaulting over his head. Yusuke tucked and rolled until he landed in a crouch. He rose and twisted around in time to feel a scorching fist under his chin, then two more solid punches and a front kick impacting in his chest. The last blow sent him skidding back several meters.

"C…crap," Yusuke coughed, wiping some blood from his mouth. He looked at the red streaked across the back of his hand and then glanced up at Hiei. _Come on Yusuke, there's only one way you're gonna stop him. It's time to bring out the Spirit Gun. I just hope this works…_

"All right, Hiei," Yusuke said, sounding much more confident than he felt. "I think I've had enough of these sucker punches. Why don't you just come at me with everything you've got?"

Hiei's eyes gleamed when he saw the blue light sparking around Yusuke's hand and concentrating around his fingertip. The fool was really going to try to hit him with a single blast? Hiei could dodge that just as easily as a punch!

"Go ahead and waste your energy, Detective!" Hiei shouted. "You're never going to hit me!"

Hiei charged forward, certain that he could avoid any attack that came at him. Yusuke stood his ground.

"Now see Hiei, that's where you're wrong," Yusuke muttered. He reached into his pocket with his free hand.

The next thing anyone saw was an arc of fantastically colored energy shooting through the air. Hiei stared in dumb shock at this impossibly-formed attack, a wave of colors no human should be able to create on his own. Hiei had enough time to see something shiny in Yusuke's left hand before he was hit by the oncoming explosion of energy. The youkai was thrown back by the force; crash-landed; rolled over and over until he finally came to a stop facedown on the floor, wisps of white energy drifting up from his body like smoke.

For a long moment, Yusuke just stared at Hiei. He wasn't sure the fight had really ended. It was entirely possible that Hiei had an impenetrable hide like Gouki's, and if that was the case Yusuke had just wasted all of his energy on a fancy light show. Even with Hiei laid out on the floor, Yusuke fully expected the wild-eyed little youkai to get back up, unharmed by the Spirit Gun blast, and murder him.

When Hiei didn't so much as twitch, Yusuke blinked.

"Holy Hell… Did that really work?" Yusuke said to himself, surprised. He scoffed. Then he snickered. Then he broke into ecstatic laughter, jumping and throwing his fist in the air with a victory whoop. "_**HELL YEAH!**_ Now _that's_ a detective tool!"

Botan's mouth dropped open as Yusuke half-ran, half-jumped over to her and Kurama.

"But… But what in the world was _that?_ It couldn't have been the Spirit Gun!" she gaped.

Yusuke smiled broadly and held out his hand, showing off a prism-shaped glass paperweight.

"This thing conked me right on the head when Hiei knocked me through that crate," Yusuke said. "Pissed me off at the time, but I guess it turned out to be lucky after all. My spirit energy passed through it and got distracted just like light."

"Diffracted," Kurama corrected him with a weak smile.

"Yeah, whatever," Yusuke waved his hand dismissively, grinning. "It got split up into the whole color spectrum. Maybe Hiei could have dodged my Spirit Gun as a single bullet, but there was no way he could get away from a spread like that." Yusuke tossed the prism up and caught it with a hearty laugh. "See Botan, _this _is the kind of stuff a Spirit Detective can actually use!"

"But how did you know the Spirit Gun had all the same properties as light?" Botan demanded. "How did you know it wouldn't just break the prism?"

Yusuke laughed even harder. "I _didn't _know! I d-didn't even _think_!"

Botan glared. "You didn't? What do you mean, you didn't?!" Kurama sighed and smiled contentedly, making Botan turn her glare on him instead. "What is so _funny_?"

"Nothing. Yusuke just faced a terrifying youkai and won. That's enough to make anyone a bit giddy. He'll come down from the adrenalin high soon enough," Kurama murmured, taking care not to disturb the sword in his belly as he pushed himself to his feet. "And he'll start feeling those wounds again too, so you had best get to work healing them."

"Wha—? Yusuke, hey, stop moving!" Botan turned to Yusuke, attempting to calm him down a bit so she could get a look at the burns.

While the girl was distracted, Kurama discreetly made his way to where Hiei lay. He dropped to his knees beside his partner's body, turning him onto his back and pressing his ear close to Hiei's mouth to make sure he was breathing. Just knocked out… Sighing in relief, Kurama dipped his finger into the vial he had appropriated and swiped the antidote across one of Hiei's cuts. It quickly closed up and disappeared, leaving behind only a faint green tinge.

_Don't worry, Hiei. I promise I'll make this up to you. Somehow, I will._ Brushing a few strands of hair away from the closed Jagan, Kurama smiled wearily. Hiei had survived this ordeal, and that was a relief…but he would still feel betrayed when he woke. It wouldn't be easy to earn his trust again. But if Kurama explained why he had done what he did, maybe Hiei would understand. After all, Yusuke had understood…

Kurama glanced back, watching as Botan tried to heal Yusuke while he was thrashing about hysterically. The boy had trusted him. Kurama still couldn't believe it—he had been a youkai and a thief and a complete stranger, and Yusuke hadn't thought twice about risking his own life to save him. And now he had saved Hiei by breaking the Kouma-no-Ken's influence over him. Hiei wouldn't like it, but he, too, was in the Spirit Detective's debt. _I don't know how we'll ever repay him_…

Yusuke wiped some tears from his face with the back of his hand, finally starting to calm down.

"Oh man," Yusuke sighed, "I can't believe I'm still _alive_."

"That's great, but you still took a really big risk with the Spirit Gun," Botan frowned. She put her glowing hand on Yusuke's stomach, where the burns from Hiei's attacks were still visible through the holes in his shirt. "If that hadn't worked Hiei would be hacking us all to pieces right about now."

"But everything worked out all right in the end," Yusuke pointed out. He glanced over to where Keiko lay unconscious. "She _is_ gonna be all right, right? And what about everyone else? Oh man, what about Kurama? That's not just a little cut, he's got a whole frigging sword lodged in his gut—"

"They're all going to be fine," Botan said, half reassuring and half exasperated. "The antidote should be enough to get rid of all those nasty Jagans, and we'll take Kurama back to the Spirit World for treatment. Everyone will be okay."

Yusuke breathed a sigh of relief. "Well then, guess that wraps up this case. Good job, me."

* * *

The next day, Yusuke was left to wonder why no one else would acknowledge his greatness.

"So you're really okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't, I dunno, have a headache?"

"I said I'm fine, Yusuke."

Yusuke Urameshi was a hero damn it. He had recovered three magical artifacts for Koenma, saved the Earth from two powerful youkai, helped a third cure his mom, and even rescued his girlfriend…friend… whatever, from a life of zombiehood. Now if he could get some kind of reward for his job well done, then he'd be happy. Unfortunately, Keiko didn't seem to remember that she had been taken hostage and that Yusuke had (heroically!) freed her from the clutches of a big bad youkai…well, a short and sinister youkai, but it still counted.

"Are you sure, cause I think maybe you're looking a little green in the face…"

"Yusuke, what are you so concerned about _my _health for? You're the one who keeps picking fights with pro wrestlers and guys with flamethrowers! Do you _want_ to die again?!" Keiko snapped. She gripped the handle of her school bag until her knuckles turned white. "Why do you have to make me and your mom worry about you? You're so inconsiderate! There are some times when you just have to back off and let the police handle it!"

"Yeah, cause that's totally an option," Yusuke mumbled under his breath. "I bet you're just mad that I didn't tell you about Botan…"

Maybe his reflexes had gotten a little better after fighting with a youkai who moved faster than normal eyes could see, but for once Yusuke actually managed to duck Keiko's slap. They both blinked, momentarily stunned that their little ritual hadn't gone the way it usually did. Then Keiko huffed and whirled around, resuming the walk to school.

Botan suddenly appeared over Yusuke's shoulder, dressed up in her schoolgirl outfit and pouting with disappointment. "Aw, you still haven't made up with Keiko?"

"Well it doesn't help that she doesn't remember me saving her," Yusuke scowled.

"But you know she can't know about all that," Botan pointed out. "Normal humans aren't supposed to have proof of the supernatural." Which meant that even if Yusuke fought off an entire army of crazed youkai to save Keiko, he'd never be able to take credit for it.

"Have I mentioned that I hate being a Spirit Detective?" Yusuke asked.

"Nope, but I'll make a note of it," Botan chirped.

"Rhetorical question, Botan."


End file.
